After unveiling Allo at Google I/O, Google has finally release Allo to the public! The new messaging app is available through Google Play for Android users and can also be downloaded from the App Store for those who use iOS devices.
If you’re not familiar with Allo or don’t know why you should use it instead of Hangouts, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger or any other messaging app you may be using, let us give you a bit if background. While Allo is a Google messaging app, the service is tied to your phone number instead of your Google Account. It can currently be installed on only one phone. Tablets are out of the question and there isn’t a web interface for Allo either. In this sense, Allo is a lot more like WhatsApp than Hangouts.
But Allo is a lot more than a simple messaging app. If you do have a Google Account, the integrated Google Assistant can learn about you and provide suggestions and lend a helping hand inside your conversations with your friends. If you mention that you want to grab lunch to a friend in Allo, the Google Assistant will jump in and show you the closest restaurants. The Google Assistant will also offer up answers for thousands of different questions, mainly the same answers you get if you typed the question into a Google search.
Google Assistant is always listening, learning and willing to help out when it can.
Other than that, Allo is simply a fun messaging app. There are tons of stickers to share with your friends and you can even doodle on pictures within Allo before sharing them. Life Hangouts, Allo also offers Incognito Mode, but Allo’s implementation offers a lot more options, giving you granular control over how long your incognito messages will live.
Give Allo a try and let us know what you think.
